Certain Circumstances
by Tori-sama
Summary: She died while he held her under a brilliant dawn. Her eyelids closed softly, a faint breath rose from her delicate throat, and then she was gone.


A/N: all right. Here is a one-shot TRAGEDY/Romance.... Thing... it's very sad, but oh well, enjoy! Please Read and review!  
  
I do not own Inuyasha...  
  
And now presenting....  
  
Certain Circumstances  
  
She died while he held her under a brilliant dawn. Her eyelids closed softly, a faint breath rose from her delicate throat, and then she was gone.  
Inuyasha looked down at the pale face of the young woman. He looked at the grass and dirt in her wet hair and the cuts in her forehead and across her nose. He felt revulsion when he saw the red lipstick on her mouth, the rouge that had smeared across her cheek, and the charcoal-gray mascara that had run from her eyes to her ears.  
This wasn't how it was supposed to be. Not even here, in a land where the concept of innocence was as foreign as the dream of peace.  
Kagome should not have died so young, and she should not have died like this. No one should die like this, lying in a windy rice field, the cool water muddy-red with their blood. But at least Kagome had died knowing who it was that held her in his arms. At least she didn't die as she'd probably lived these last years with him, alone and unappreciated. And though the search that Inuyasha had never quite abandoned was over, he knew that another was about to begin.  
Inuyasha's knees were raised and Kagome's head was in his lap. He lightly touched the cold tip of her nose, the fine line of her jaw, her round mouth. A mouth that always used to smile, regardless of what she was doing. The girl felt so small and fragile.  
He pulled her arms from the water and laid them on the waist of her tattered green skirt. He cuddled her closer. He wondered if anyone had held her like this recently. Had she lived this horrible life the entire time she was with him? Had she finally had enough and decided that death was preferable?  
Inuyasha's long face tightened as he thought about her life. Then it exploded in tears. How could he have been so near and not have known it? He and Sango had been in the village, searching for shards, for nearly a week. Could he ever forgive himself for not having seen her in time to save her?  
Poor Sango would be inconsolable when she learned who this was. Sango had been in the village reconnoitering, trying to find out who was behind this. She had confirmed Inuyasha to let him know that one of the women had apparently tried to escape from Naraku before the sunrise. She'd been chased and shot by a full blast of power. Kagome had taken the blast in the side. She'd probably run, then walked until she could no longer move. Then she must have lain down here to look at the waning night sky. She used to look at the sky a great deal when she was walking with him and the others. Inuyasha wondered if that sky, the memories of a better time, had given Kagome any peace at the end.  
Inuyasha slipped his trembling fingers through her long, black hair. He heard splashing in the distance. That would be Sango. He'd told her earlier that he'd heard a scream and smelled blood. She said she'd catch up with him, and that he should go ahead. They had been hoping, At least, that the victim could give them a name, before death, so that they could confirm their suspicions of Naraku and break the monstrous creature that was destroying so many innocent lives. But that didn't happen. Seeing him, Kagome only had the strength to say his name. She died with his name and the hint of a smile on her bright red lips, not the name of the creature that had done this.  
Sango arrived and looked down. Dressed like a local peasant she stood there with the wind whispering around her. And then she gasped when she realized whose form he held in his arms. She knelt beside Inuyasha and put her arms around him. Neither of them moved nor spoke for several minutes. Then, slowly, Inuyasha stood with Kagome's body in his arms. He carried on his back, just like they had done not long ago, feeling dead inside at the thought.  
  
He knew they shouldn't leave the feudal era now. Not when they were so close to completing the Shikon no Tama, but he had to take Kagome to her home. That was where she should be laid to rest.  
The sun quickly warmed and then baked his damp head. With Sango's help, Inuyasha placed the body of Kagome on a blanket. Gently, he folded her inside. Before leaving, he looked out across the field. It had been made sacred with her blood. But the land would not be clean until it was washed with the blood of those who had done this.  
It would be. However long it took, he vowed that it would be. 


End file.
